Swapping midtown for Soho, designer Ralph Rucci has announced that he's canceling his September 13 Chado Ralph Rucci Spring 2011 runway show in favor of a series of showroom appointments. According to WWD, the change in plans comes in concurrence with the pending extended medical leave of the label's president (and Rucci's close friend) Vivian Van Natta.
Though the decision to scrap a runway show will likely save Rucci as much as $500,000 in costs, this doesn't mean the designer will be any less busy come Fashion Week—or thereafter. Until a successor is named, Rucci will take on many of Van Natta's responsibilities; additionally, the label will launch a web site sometime during the spring 2011 presentations, while Rucci is also finalizing plans to move his Soho offices to an immense two-floor location in west Chelsea next spring.
While the showroom appointments certainly won't offer the same kind of theatricality of a runway show, it comes with its own perks. "This is not about modern, young or all those other adjectives," the designer told WWD. "I will be able to communicate the artistic references and the techniques that were required." Given how rare it is to see established designers take such a hands-on approach to discussing their work these days, we actually think the idea's a pretty revolutionary one.
